ruth

In this chapter, David gets to work in fulfilling God’s promises to Him (aka the Davidic Covenant) that were made in chapter seven. 

First, David attacks and subdues the Philistines, no small task considering their cultural and military might. As it says in verse fourteen of this chapter, “…the Lord preserved David wherever he went.” This statement is an important one as we consider the ramifications of the Davidic Covenant. God will deliver the promises of kingdom and conquest to David, and He will do it through David himself. This concept may remind us of the adage: “The Lord helps those who help themselves.”

After the Philistines, David turns his gaze toward Moab. The Moabites were a group of people that came from the incestuous offspring of Lot and his older daughter (Genesis 19:36-37). David forcibly subdues the Moabites, adding their number to those he led by killing the adults and assimilating the young Moabites as his servants. The fact that they brought tribute to David shows loyalty, not an easy attribute to garner from the surviving Moabites considering the circumstances. 

Verses three and four show David adding to his army as he takes back territory near the Euphrates river. Likewise, David adds to his treasury by taking things of value from Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah. When the Syrians come to Hadadezer’s aid, David kills many thousands of them, subduing them. The Syrians will also bring David tribute and become his servants, once again showing loyalty in an unlikely situation. 

Toi, king of Hamath, had been warring with Hadadezer. When Toi heard of David defeating Hadadezer’s army, he sent David many riches. Toi was impressed and grateful, wanting to get on the good side of the one that defeated his enemy. 

David, with the riches from all of these conquered peoples, guided by the power of God, brings these riches back and dedicates them to Almighty God. David’s installation of garrisons ensured that he would retain control over these lands and defeated peoples. 

The lesson from this chapter is basic but important: God will surely help you – but action and faith are required on your part. We might pray endlessly, waiting for something to happen despite the answer or course of action being plain to others. Why can we not see it? Oftentimes unlike David, we are stuck in thinking that is unhealthy, we are afraid, or we doubt. Inaction will get us nowhere. Pray, look, seek, and act. That is what David did. And as David acted with bravery and confidence in God’s plan for him, God made David’s way clear and his actions successful. So it can be for each of us. 

We may seek and seek for the way out of a situation when all the while God was hinting at us to go through the situation, to see it through to the end. We may pray for something to begin when in fact that thing’s impetus may be years in the future, or might never come at all. One of the most disappointing facts of life can be when we realize that God’s answer to what we want can sometimes be a clear and firm “No.” Our job is to seek and find God and His will for us. We are happiest, most joyous, and most complete as beings when our actions align with those desired for us by our heavenly Father.